Babysitting Instructions

I just picked up a babysitting job on the east side of town.  I don’t want to use anyone’s real names for fear of repercussion, so for the sake of this post, we’ll call the girl whom I’m supposed to be babysitting Abby.

I had my interview yesterday and immediately afterword, I was offered the job.  I didn’t even get to meet Abby before she handed me an offer letter.

She insisted that I not read or sign the offer letter there, but instead take it home and consider the contents there, so that’s precisely what I did, and precisely why I’m posting this. I’ve typed the offer letter and posted it below.

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is in response to your query about the babysitting position of Abigail Yates, age six.  If you have received this letter, you have met a series of undisclosed qualifications by the mother of Abigail: Miss Gwendolyn Yates.

Signature of acknowledgement of the terms below is vital for employment.  Any breach of these terms will result in immediate termination.

·         Abigail is not to be touched – no matter how much she cries.

·         Abigail is to be fed each hour in her bedroom, precisely on the hour, except between two and four in the morning, during which time Abigail is not to be communicated with or sought after.

·         The employee authorizes and provides Abigail and Gwendolyn access to infant photos of his/herself no older than up to six months of age.  If no such photographs are available, there will be no need for further employment.

·         Between the hours of two and four in the morning, Abigail’s room is to be locked and the radio is to be played over the speaker system on a loop so as not to allow any break in sound.  In the event of a power outage, both the radio and the speaker system are set up to the power generator.  In the event the speaker system goes out or the music stops, leave the house immediately without Abigail.

·         Abigail has an imaginary friend whom she calls Teresa.  It is of vital importance that you acknowledge the existence of the friend but do not try to contact her in ANY way.  If Teresa contacts you, you are welcome to communicate, but Teresa MUST be the one to initiate communication in ANY form.

·         Abigail is not to leave her room under any circumstances.  In the event of an emergency, leave the house and dial the emergency number listen in the directory you will receive upon signature of this document.  Do not call 911 under any circumstances.

·         If anyone comes to the door, do not answer it – they are not real.

Upon signature and return of this document, you will be provided further instruction.

Thank you,

Teresa Yates Gwendolyn Yates

***

This morning I received the response to my signature of acknowledgement to the terms that I delivered on Monday.  I hand-delivered the letter in the hopes that I could get the “further instruction” in person, but nobody seemed to be home, so I left it in the mailbox.

I found the response in my own mailbox this morning, except I don’t think anyone mailed it.  There’s no address or postage on the envelope at all – just my name.  I don’t remember if I gave them my address or not… I don’t think the website I’m on gives out addresses, but I’ll have to check.

So, here’s the letter.

To Whom It May Concern,

This letter is in response to your acknowledgement of the terms and instructions listed in the offer letter given by Gwendolyn Yates on June 19, 2017.  We are pleased to extend an offer for permanent employment in the Yates home beginning Thursday, June 22, 2017.

You are expected to arrive at precisely 3:03pm on the afternoon of the 22nd with the below expectations met.  If you are unable to meet all expectation listed below, please do not arrive and we will take it as declination of this invitation.

·         As stated above, you MUST arrive promptly at 3:03pm.  If you are not at the doorstep at that time, the door will not be opened to you.

·         You must have already eaten and used the restroom, and no food is to be permitted within the home, except for the meals of Abigail.  If you are unable to avoid use of the restroom, you must use the one located in the basement.  If you open the door to the basement and it is safe to proceed down the steps, Teresa will show you the way.  If Teresa does not give you express permission to go to the basement, DO NOT GO.

·         The infant photograph promised by the signature of the previous document must be on your person when you arrive.  It may not have any frame, and you must leave it on the plate when you deliver the first meal to Abigail.

·         You are permitted to listen to music or watch the television, and are encouraged to increase the volume in the event Abigail begins to make noise.

·         It is imperative that you remember that during the times that you are in the home, there is nobody else there except for yourself, Abigail, and Teresa.  If you begin to suspect anyone else is in the home, regardless of circumstance, leave immediately without Abigail.

·         If any of the doors are unlocked, leave immediately without Abigail.

·         It is imperative that you do not fall asleep while in the home.  If you begin to feel tired or drowsy at any capacity, leave immediately without Abigail.

If you have any questions about the content of this letter, please refrain from voicing them.  If you cannot, then please look for employment elsewhere.

We look forward to seeing you.

Teresa Yates

Gwendolyn Yates

I expected there to be a directory as well, but it was just this letter…

I’ll make sure to post the directory if it comes.  I’m nervous about going now, but I really need the money… I’ll bring my phone so I can call someone if I run into trouble and so I can take pictures of the inside of the house.

 ***

Today’s the day!  I’m currently posting this from the couch of the Yates home.  Miss Yates left about five minutes ago and said she’d be back in a “little while.”  I don’t much like the sound of that, but I was too nervous to ask for more specifics.

Now, I’ll describe the house a little bit to give you all an idea of where I’m at.  This house, as I’m sure you’ve all ventured to imagine by now, is HUGE, at least by my standards.  It’s got at least three floors: The top floor, the ground floor, and the basement.  I have all intention to explore at least the top and ground floor, but as of right now, I don’t think I’ll go into the basement.  I’ve seen the movies!

Abigail’s room is upstairs.  It’s a narrow staircase and at the top is a long hallway with doors on either side.  The doors are all locked with thick padlocks, except for the one at the end, which Miss Yates told me was Abigail’s.  The door is a thick steel door and it’s got sliding bar-locks on the top and bottom, and that strange insignia that was on the letters is painted on the door, but the part that is freaking me out is the fact that the handle looks like it was broke off.  I don’t think this door can be opened at all.

The door is shut tight, but I can hear Abigail on the other side.  She’s shuffling around on the floor.  It’s a weird scraping sound – like sandpaper on carpet – and I can hear her breathing and a combination between a moan and a tuneless hum.

I wanted to call in to her and introduce myself, but when I opened my mouth, it went dry and I found that anxiety had gripped my throat. I couldn’t talk to her.

I left the upstairs as quietly as I came.

*

I just heard a knock at the door.  I know that the rules said not to answer it, but I’m at least going to take a look through the peep-hole.

*

Nobody was there.  I swear I heard someone rapping at the door, but when I looked through the hole, nothing was there.

I’m going through the ground floor now.  I’ve got about fifteen minutes until I need to feed Abigail, so I’m spending the next ten trying to see what I can find.

*

I think I found Miss Yates’s room.  It wasn’t locked, so I went in.  It’s extremely tidy – to be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if this ended up being a guest room.  There’s a bathroom connected to it, but the toilet doesn’t have any water in it, and the bathtub is brown with hard water stains.

In the corner of her room, she has a big vanity table, and there are a bunch of papers on it.  They look like letters or something.

Holy shit! This is a copy of my post from a few days ago!  The one that was taken down…

There’s another one of my post from Tuesday!  I think this is Gwendolyn’s handwriting… it matches the letters that I got with all the rules… 

*

It’s time to feed Abigail. 

The food she has me giving her is this reddish-gray mush looking stuff.  It reminds me of pig slop.  Miss Yates has them all portioned out in plastic containers.  Next to the fridge is a big stack of plastic trays – like the ones you eat off of in elementary school.  She told me to feed Abigail one portion on a plastic tray every hour.

Just like she told me before she left, I slid the tray with the mush under the tiny gap beneath the door.

*

Holy shit she just started screaming!

It’s fucking loud!

Oh shit I forgot my picture!!!

*

I just slid my baby picture under the door and she stopped screaming almost immediately.  I can’t believe I forgot that! I need to pay better attention instead of trying to write this all down.

I’ve never heard a kid make that kind of sound though… It was an angry scream from the back of the throat, like a dog’s growl but more high-pitched and human.

I can hear her eating now.  She’s slurping away and sniffing at something.

*

I went back downstairs. I couldn’t stand listening to her any longer. It reminded me of the time I watched the animals at the zoo as they were fed by their handlers.  Next hour, I’m just going to feed her and leave.  The sounds she makes are unnerving, and being alone in this house isn’t helping.

*

I’ve been trying to listen to watch TV, but I can’t get into anything. I don’t think I can sit still for very long – I’m all sorts of anxious.  Those copies of my posts in Gwendolyn’s room are really getting in my head.

*

I just heard another knock, but I don’t think is came from the door this time.  I think it came from one of the locked bedrooms upstairs.

I went up there, and called out, but nobody called back.  There are three other rooms aside from Abigail’s that are all padlocked.  I’m thinking it came from the one closest to the stairs, but I can’t see anything when I put my head on the ground and look under the door.  Not even light shows through.

*

Doing that gave me an idea.  I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but Abigail’s door doesn’t sit against the floor.  There’s about an inch or so beneath it so I can slide the trays down.  I’m going to see what I can see under the door.

*

There’s a little girl in there for sure!  That’s about all I can make out though… There are plastic trays from her hourly feeding littering the back of the room, but I saw her feet.  She’s wearing pink slippers and a cream-colored nightgown and she’s shuffling back and forth from one side of the room to another, muttering or humming or whatever it is she’s doing.

I know what the rules say, but I’m starting to feel bad for her.  She’s been locked in there for God knows how long, and I don’t think there’s a bathroom or anything for her… I might want to call somebody after this is all over.

*

Shit! I just heard another knock from that room by the stairs!

I didn’t notice it before, but when I turned around in response to the noise, I noticed an attic entrance at the top of the stairs.

I went downstairs and found a flashlight in a drawer in the kitchen.  The hatch doesn’t have a lock on it, so I think I’m safe to go up.

It’s all sorts of dusty up here.  There are storage boxes covered in dust everywhere up here.  I went through one and found that it was full of baby pictures.  They all seemed to be of infants, but the date range was enormous.  There are pictures from the 1920’s in here, and all of babies not even a year old.  I wonder if my picture is going to be added to them.  The thought gives me chills.

I just heard a thump on the other side of the hall.  I’m pretty sure it came from Abigail’s room.  I’m going to see if I can get over to her ceiling from here.

*

Ok I’m over her room now.  It looks like small holes have been punched in the ceiling, like mice or termites have been gnawing away at parts of it.  I’m going to see if I can see Abby from here.

*

Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck.  I’m out of the attic and I’m never going back there!  She saw me I think! Or at least, she knew I was there.  I looked into one of the holes and saw her standing there.  She’s small and has brown hair that covered her face in oily clumps.  She was sitting in the corner of the room, holding my baby picture intently and muttering something.  She suddenly stopped muttering and looked up at the ceiling.  I have no idea how she could have known I was there, but she did!  She looked up just as normally as if I’d called her name.  She stood up and sniffed at the air and as she looked further up and got closer to me, her hair started to fall away from her face.  She HAS NO EYES!  There are just flat flaps of skin where her eyes should be, but nothing else!  Her eyeless gaze held mine, sharing a moment of pure terror, and I know it sounds crazy, but I think she could still see me somehow.

I got out of the attic as soon as I could, but I don’t think it was soon enough.  She began to scream again and I ran down stairs.  It’s much louder from the first and I can feel the vibrations from the noise in my chest.  I turned the television on as loud as I could, just like the instructions said.

The noise is giving me a headache, but I can’t seem to get the screaming to stop!

 ***

Hey guys! Sorry, I just woke up and I’m freaking out here!!!

I don’t even remember falling asleep.  I remember the screaming and wishing it would stop and sitting on the couch trying to get the television to drown out the sound, but that’s the last thing.  My phone’s almost dead, but I thought ahead and brought my charger.  There’s no sign of Gwendolyn anywhere.  Nothing looks like it’s changed since I fell asleep, but things have got to be seriously messed up now!

I didn’t feed Abigail.  A part of me wishes that she were dead, but I know that’s not true because just as I wrote that I heard a thump coming from her bedroom.  How long has it been since she ate?

I’m so hungry and I have to use the bathroom so bad!  I can hold off on eating for a little while, but I don’t know about the bathroom.  I don’t want to go downstairs, but I’m just as terrified to use the bathroom up here – not that there was any water in the toilet anyway.

I’m going to feed Abigail to get my mind off it and see if I can find the emergency number for Miss Yates to find out where the hell she is!

*

The feeding went fine.  I could hear her snarfing down all the food on the tray even more than before, but as I was walking up there, I realized something.  I don’t think the music played last night.  I was out, but I’m pretty sure I would have woken up to music, especially as loud as I was expecting it to be from the letters.

Oh shit! The letters!  I brought them.  They were in my pocket, but they’re not there anymore.  I don’t remember all the rules, but I think I’ve shattered a few now.  I fell asleep and everything went to hell.  Shit!  I’m leaving without Abigail.

*

The door won’t open.  It won’t fucking open!  It’s like its locked from the outside.  I can hear the metal clank on the other side like I’m working against a padlock.  Someone locked me in.

Oh Christ!

*

The windows all have steel bars on them.  I think I remember seeing them before, but I’m not sure – my brain isn’t working straight right now.  I’m seeing things.  I thought I saw someone standing in the kitchen, but nobody was there.  Of course there’s nobody there.  It’s just me and Abigail.

*

I forgot about Teresa.  She’s supposed to show me the way to the bathroom, but how can an imaginary friend show me the way?  I think that if I wasn’t supposed to go, she would stop me.  So I’m going to go and if I hear or see anything, I’ll take that as a hint.

*

I’m in the bathroom now.  The door is weird and big, like the door to an industrial freezer.  I don’t think there’s any air vents in here.  I’m glad I only have to pee, because if I had to do anything else, I don’t think the smell would ever leave.

On second thought – maybe that’s the idea.

*

I was about to go upstairs when something caught my eye.  This house has another level, except there’s a gate blocking the way.  It’s got a lock on it, but the lock is open.

I think somebody is down there.  I think I heard a whisper or a voice or something.  It might be my imagination.

*

No there’s definitely somebody down there. I saw something move I think. 

I know it’s a bad idea, but I need to go down there.  I think there’s maybe another kid or something, and if that’s the case, I need to make sure that he/she is okay.

*

There’s nobody down here, but I think someone was down here once at least.  There’s a strange collection of objects down here – it reminds me of a packrat nest.  There are hair brushes and clothes and papers and all sorts of other stuff on the floor.  There are things on the wall too, like artwork.

The papers on the wall are all drawings from a little kid, except I don’t think they’re Abigail’s work.  They’re done in crayon and they all have three big black splotches where people have been crossed out.  I know they’re people because they’re all labeled: Mommy, Abby, Me.

I think Teresa drew these.

*

I’m going back up the stairs. I’m going to the room I heard the knocking in earlier; I think Teresa might be in there.

*

Didn’t I say the room was locked before? I don’t remember.  The lock is hanging open now.  I called Teresa’s name, but nobody answered.  The moaning in Abigail’s room got a little louder I think, but that might just be my imagination.

The room is empty.  There’s nothing at all in this room except for fresh paint and hardwood flooring.

I called Teresa’s name again, but she still didn’t answer.  I thought she’d be the one knocking.

*

The door behind me just slammed shut.

*

Oh God!  The door won’t open!

*

The knocking is getting louder.  It’s coming from everywhere.  I can hear it in the ceiling and in the floor and on the door. 

*

Abigail just started to scream again, and it’s getting louder.

*

I can hear something outside in the hallway.  It sounds like the shuffling that I heard in Abigail’s room earlier I think, but I can’t be sure because the screaming just won’t stop.

*

Oh God, I just wet myself.  Like a goddamn child!  I’m scared.

edit:  Sorry for tHe scare evEryone! i Wanted tO let everyoNe know That i made it home safeLy.  gwEndolyn goT hoMe and ExpLained Everything.  i overreActed for sure.  abigail is a normal little girl with an oVeractive imagination, and a rarE physical condition – nothing more.

tHank you so vEry much for Letting me keeP you posted on my newest job!

i love it here.